Audi slashes brand's EV entry price with Q4 e-tron

Audi has significantly cut the entry price that its customers have to pay to switch to electric motoring with the launch of the Q4 e-tron. The new compact SUV undercuts the larger Audi e-tron SUV by 27,000 euros in the German brand's home market.

The Q4 e-tron and the raked-roof Q4 e-tron Sportback version are the first Audis to use parent Volkswagen Group's MEB electric platform.

The volume-focused architecture, which also underpins the VW ID3, ID4 and Skoda Enyaq, allowed Audi to start the Q4 e-tron's price at 41,900 euros in Germany.

The compact SUV's entry model, the 35 e-tron, has the smallest battery pack in the range at 52 kilowatt hours, with a top-end range of 341 km (212 miles) and total power of 167 hp.

The 40 variant has a 77-kWh battery pack, a range 521 km and total power of 201 hp, but the larger battery adds 150 kg compared with the 35.

The 45 e-tron quattro version adds a second electric motor on the front axle to provide all-wheel drive and boost power to 261 hp.

The highest power model is the 50 e-tron quattro with 294 hp, which pushes the price up to 53,600 euros.

The 45 and 50 variants both use the 77-kWh pack. Range is 490 km and 488 km, respectively.

The Q4 e-tron is made at VW Group's plant in Zwickau, Germany, alongside the VW ID3 and ID4, as well as the related Cupra Born. Audi, however, has worked to differentiate its own MEB cars.

Audi build the dies for the body work stamping to cope with the complicated creases on the cars' sides.

Up front, Audi's single-frame grille has been blanked off, but its contrasting color means that the design doesn't shout, "electric car."

Inside, the dashboard is very different from VW's ID models and the Skoda Enyaq.

The central touchscreen is embedded into the dashboard instead of rising above it and is angled toward to the driver. The need to build out the screen is perhaps why there's now a long shelf at the base of the windshield. The dash screen, which is 10.1 inches standard or 11.6 inches as an option, is smaller than the Enyaq's 13-inch display.

The car feels roomier than its 4588 mm length. It's 520 liters of trunk space, for example, isn't far off from the 660 liters inside the much longer e-tron EV.

Like its VW and Skoda siblings, the Q4 is available with an augmented reality head-up display that superimposes turn signals on the road ahead. Audi says this feature it particularly helpful when visibility is poor.

Also available is a heat pump that warms and cools the interior quickly using thermal losses from the electric components and the temperature of the outside air. This reduces the loss of electric range that the use of the climate-control causes, especially in winter.

Audi has promised to launch 20 full-electric vehicles by 2025, including an A6 e-tron liftback model on the brand's new Premium Platform Electric architecture and a Q6 SUV using the same underpinnings as Porsche.

Therefore, the Q4 will remain the brand's most affordable EV for some time.